Support for maintenance of a fleet of vehicles with intuitive display of repair analytics

ABSTRACT

A method is provided for supporting maintenance of a fleet of vehicles with intuitive display of repair analytics. The method includes receiving a user request for repair analytics for the fleet of vehicles via a GUI that includes a first frame with a date-range filter to enable the user to select a date range for the repair analytics. The method includes interpreting the user request to produce a query of dataset(s) for the fleet, and executing the query for data of the vehicles. The datasets include an in-service time and repair costs for the vehicles, and the data includes the same over the date range. The method includes determining, and generating a chart in a second frame of the GUI that graphically illustrates, a moving average repair cost per unit of in-service time for a plurality of time periods within the date range from the in-service time and repair costs.

TECHNOLOGICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates generally to maintenance of a fleet ofvehicles and, in particular, to supporting maintenance of a fleet ofvehicles with intuitive display of repair analytics.

BACKGROUND

Maintenance is regularly performed on aircraft for repair, update orreplacement of component parts to keep the aircraft in a safe conditionfor in-service operation. Performing maintenance has a direct effect onthe in-service availability of aircraft, with it generally beingdesirable to reduce or minimize aircraft downtime during maintenance inwhich the aircraft is out of service. Reducing or minimizing aircraftdowntime during maintenance is a complicated task involving multiplevariables such as the model and series of aircraft, the airline, systemsor structures of the aircraft, component parts, supplier of thecomponent parts, the age or in-service time of the aircraft or componentparts, and the like. The interplay of these variables makes reducing orminimizing aircraft downtime during maintenance challenging.

A dataset for a fleet of aircraft that includes data relevant tomaintenance of the fleet contains large amounts of information. The sizeand complexity of aircraft and variables involved increase not only thetime required to study the data, but the difficulty in comprehending thedata. A user may not only require the time to review a datasetcontaining large amounts of data, but may also require the time andendure the difficulty of studying the data to understand the ways inwhich the data is driven by maintenance of the fleet and may be used toimprove it.

BRIEF SUMMARY

Example implementations of the present disclosure are generally tomaintenance of a fleet of vehicles and, in particular, to supportingmaintenance of a fleet of vehicles with intuitive display of repairanalytics. In accordance with example implementations, data for a fleetof vehicles such as aircraft may be filtered based on a number ofdifferent, relevant variables, and repair analytics may be arranged in agraphical user interface (GUI) in a manner that enables a user to seethe data in a dashboard view that facilitates a better understanding ofthe data and its usefulness in improving maintenance of the fleet, suchas by reducing or minimizing aircraft downtime during maintenance. Thearrangement may not only lessen the time required to review dataset(s)containing large amounts of data, but may also lessen the time requiredand ease the difficulty studying the data to understand the ways inwhich maintenance of the fleet may be improved. Example implementationsmay therefore ease the difficulty and time required to search andcomprehend even the most massive amounts of data contained in somedatasets.

The present disclosure thus includes, without limitation, the followingexample implementations.

Some example implementations provide a method of supporting maintenanceof a fleet of vehicles, the method comprising executing acomputer-readable program code via processing circuitry to generate agraphical user interface (GUI) to enable a user to request and receiverepair analytics for a fleet of vehicles, the GUI including a firstframe within which a collection of filters are grouped, the collectionof filters including a date-range filter with one or more graphicalcontrol elements to enable the user to select a date range for therepair analytics, and the GUI including a second frame within which atleast some of the repair analytics are displayed; receiving a userrequest for repair analytics for the fleet of vehicles via the GUI,including user selection of the date range via the date-range filter;interpreting the user request to produce a query of one or more datasetsfor the fleet of vehicles, the one or more datasets including anin-service time for vehicles of the fleet of vehicles, and repairtransactions including repair costs for the vehicles; executing thequery of the one or more datasets for data of the vehicles of the fleetof vehicles, the data including the in-service time and the repair costsover the date range for the vehicles; determining a moving averagerepair cost per unit of in-service time for a plurality of time periodswithin the date range from the in-service time and the repair costs; andgenerating a moving-average-repair-cost (MARC) chart in the second frameof the GUI, the MARC chart graphically illustrating the moving averagerepair cost per unit of in-service time for the plurality of timeperiods.

In some example implementations of the method of any preceding exampleimplementation, or any combination of any preceding exampleimplementations, the vehicles of the fleet of vehicles are operated byvehicle operators, the collection of filters further include an operatorfilter with a second one or more graphical control elements to enablethe user to select one or more of the vehicle operators that operate asubset of the vehicles, and the one or more datasets identify thevehicles by vehicle operator of the vehicle operators, and whereinreceiving the user request further includes receiving user selection ofthe one or more of the vehicle operators via the operator filter,executing the query includes executing the query for the data includingthe in-service time and the repair costs for only the subset of thevehicles operated by the one or more of the vehicle operators, anddetermining the moving average repair cost per unit of in-service timeincludes determining the moving average repair cost per unit ofin-service time for the plurality of time periods within the date rangefrom the in-service time and the repair costs for only the subset of thevehicles.

In some example implementations of the method of any preceding exampleimplementation, or any combination of any preceding exampleimplementations, the vehicles of the fleet of vehicles include componentparts of systems or structures of the vehicles, the collection offilters further include a system filter with a second one or moregraphical control elements to enable the user to select one or more ofthe systems or structures that include a subset of the component parts,and the repair transactions in the one or more datasets identify therepair costs by component part of the component parts, and whereinreceiving the user request further includes receiving user selection ofthe one or more of the systems or structures via the system filter,executing the query includes executing the query for the data includingthe in-service time and the repair costs for only the subset of thecomponent parts in the one or more of the systems or structures, anddetermining the moving average repair cost per unit of in-service timeincludes determining the moving average repair cost per unit ofin-service time for the plurality of time periods within the date rangefrom the in-service time and the repair costs for only the subset of thecomponent parts.

In some example implementations of the method of any preceding exampleimplementation, or any combination of any preceding exampleimplementations, the vehicles of the fleet of vehicles include componentparts, the collection of filters further include a component-part filterwith a second one or more graphical control elements to enable the userto select one or more of the component parts, and the repairtransactions in the one or more datasets identify the repair costs bycomponent part of the component parts, and wherein receiving the userrequest further includes receiving user selection of the one or more ofthe component parts via the component-part filter, executing the queryincludes executing the query for the data including the in-service timeand the repair costs for only the one or more of the component parts,and determining the moving average repair cost per unit of in-servicetime includes determining the moving average repair cost per unit ofin-service time for the plurality of time periods within the date rangefrom the in-service time and the repair costs for only the one or moreof the component parts.

In some example implementations of the method of any preceding exampleimplementation, or any combination of any preceding exampleimplementations, the vehicles of the fleet of vehicles include componentparts supplied by component part suppliers, the collection of filtersfurther include a supplier filter with a second one or more graphicalcontrol elements to enable the user to select one or more of thecomponent part suppliers that supply a subset of the component parts,and the repair transactions in the one or more datasets identify therepair costs by component part of the component parts, and whereinreceiving the user request further includes receiving user selection ofthe one or more of the component part suppliers via the supplier filter,executing the query includes executing the query for the data includingthe in-service time and the repair costs for only the subset of thecomponent parts supplied by the one or more of the component partsuppliers, and determining the moving average repair cost per unit ofin-service time includes determining the moving average repair cost perunit of in-service time for the plurality of time periods within thedate range from the in-service time and the repair costs for only thesubset of the component parts.

In some example implementations of the method of any preceding exampleimplementation, or any combination of any preceding exampleimplementations, the GUI further includes a third frame within which atleast some of the repair analytics are displayed, and the repairtransactions in the one or more datasets identify the repair costs bycharge type of a plurality of charge types for the repair costs, andwherein the method further comprises: determining a repair cost andpercentage of number of repair transactions or total repair cost overthe date range for each of the plurality of charge types from the repaircosts for the vehicles; and generating a charge-type table in the thirdframe of the GUI, the charge-type table identifying the plurality ofcharge types, and the repair cost and percentage of number of repairtransactions or total repair cost for each of the plurality of chargetypes.

In some example implementations of the method of any preceding exampleimplementation, or any combination of any preceding exampleimplementations, the vehicles of the fleet of vehicles include componentparts of systems or structures of the vehicles, and the repairtransactions in the one or more datasets identify the repair costs bycomponent part of the component parts, wherein the first frame and thesecond frame are on a landing page of the GUI that also includes afurther graphical control element that when user selected, causesdisplay of a second page of the GUI within which further repairanalytics are displayed, and the method further comprises: receivinguser selection of the further graphical control element; determining atotal repair cost per unit of in-service time over the date range foreach of a select one or more of the systems or structures that include asubset of the component parts; and generating a system-structure charton the second page of the GUI, the system-structure chart graphicallyillustrating numerical proportions of the total repair cost per unit ofin-service time for the select one or more of the systems or structures.

In some example implementations of the method of any preceding exampleimplementation, or any combination of any preceding exampleimplementations, the vehicles of the fleet of vehicles include componentparts supplied by component part suppliers, and the repair transactionsin the one or more datasets identify the repair costs by component partof the component parts, wherein the first frame and the second frame areon a landing page of the GUI that also includes a further graphicalcontrol element that when user selected, causes display of a second pageof the GUI within which further repair analytics are displayed, and themethod further comprises: receiving user selection of the furthergraphical control element; determining a total repair cost over the daterange for each of a select one or more of the component part suppliersthat supply a subset of the component parts; and generating apart-supplier chart on the second page of the GUI, the part-supplierchart graphically illustrating numerical proportions of the total repaircost for the select one or more of the component part suppliers.

In some example implementations of the method of any preceding exampleimplementation, or any combination of any preceding exampleimplementations, the repair transactions in the one or more datasetsidentify the repair costs by charge type of a plurality of charge typesfor the repair costs, wherein the first frame and the second frame areon a landing page of the GUI that also includes a further graphicalcontrol element that when user selected, causes display of a second pageof the GUI within which further repair analytics are displayed, and themethod further comprises: receiving user selection of the furthergraphical control element; determining a percentage of number of repairtransactions or total repair cost over the date range for each of theplurality of charge types from the repair costs for the vehicles; andgenerating a charge-type chart on the second page of the GUI, thecharge-type chart graphically illustrating numerical proportions of thepercentage of number of repair transactions or total repair cost for theplurality of charge types.

In some example implementations of the method of any preceding exampleimplementation, or any combination of any preceding exampleimplementations, the vehicles of the fleet of vehicles include componentparts, and the repair transactions in the one or more datasets identifythe repair costs by component part of the component parts, wherein thefirst frame and the second frame are on a landing page of the GUI thatalso includes a further graphical control element that when userselected, causes display of a second page of the GUI within whichfurther repair analytics are displayed, and the method furthercomprises: receiving user selection of the further graphical controlelement; determining for each component part of at least a subset ofcomponent parts, a repair cost per unit of in-service time over the daterange from the in-service time and the repair costs; and generating acomponent-part table on the second page of the GUI, the component-parttable identifying the subset of the component parts and at least therepair cost per unit of in-service time over the date range for eachcomponent part of the subset of the component parts.

Some example implementations provide an apparatus for supportingmaintenance of a fleet of vehicles. The apparatus comprises anon-transitory computer-readable storage medium storingcomputer-readable program code; and processing circuitry configured toaccess the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, and executethe computer-readable program code to cause the apparatus to at leastperform the method of any preceding example implementation, or anycombination of any preceding example implementations.

Some example implementations provide a non-transitory computer-readablestorage medium for supporting maintenance of a fleet of vehicles. Thenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium has computer-readableprogram code stored therein that in response to execution by processingcircuitry, causes an apparatus to at least perform the method of anypreceding or any subsequent example implementation, or any combinationthereof.

These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the presentdisclosure will be apparent from a reading of the following detaileddescription together with the accompanying drawings, which are brieflydescribed below. The present disclosure includes any combination of two,three, four or more features or elements set forth in this disclosure,regardless of whether such features or elements are expressly combinedor otherwise recited in a specific example implementation describedherein. This disclosure is intended to be read holistically such thatany separable features or elements of the disclosure, in any of itsaspects and example implementations, should be viewed as combinableunless the context of the disclosure clearly dictates otherwise.

It will therefore be appreciated that this Brief Summary is providedmerely for purposes of summarizing some example implementations so as toprovide a basic understanding of some aspects of the disclosure.Accordingly, it will be appreciated that the above described exampleimplementations are merely examples and should not be construed tonarrow the scope or spirit of the disclosure in any way. Other exampleimplementations, aspects and advantages will become apparent from thefollowing detailed description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings which illustrate, by way of example, theprinciples of some described example implementations.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING(S)

Having thus described example implementations of the disclosure ingeneral terms, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings,which are not necessarily drawn to scale, and wherein:

FIG. 1 illustrates a system for supporting maintenance of a fleet ofvehicles, according to example implementations of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 2 illustrates a suitable graphical user interface (GUI), accordingto example implementations;

FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate a landing page and second page of a GUI,according to example implementations;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating various steps in a method ofsupporting maintenance of a fleet of vehicles, according to variousexample implementations; and

FIG. 5 illustrates an apparatus according to some exampleimplementations.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Some implementations of the present disclosure will now be describedmore fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, inwhich some, but not all implementations of the disclosure are shown.Indeed, various implementations of the disclosure may be embodied inmany different forms and should not be construed as limited to theimplementations set forth herein; rather, these example implementationsare provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, andwill fully convey the scope of the disclosure to those skilled in theart. For example, unless otherwise indicated, reference something asbeing a first, second or the like should not be construed to imply aparticular order. Also, something may be described as being abovesomething else (unless otherwise indicated) may instead be below, andvice versa; and similarly, something described as being to the left ofsomething else may instead be to the right, and vice versa. Likereference numerals refer to like elements throughout.

Example implementations of the present disclosure are generally directedto maintenance of a fleet of vehicles and, in particular, to supportingmaintenance of a fleet of vehicles with intuitive display of repairanalytics, which takes into account at least some of the issuesdiscussed in the Background section, and which may also address otherpossible issues. The system is primarily described herein in the contextof a fleet of aircraft, but it should be understood that the system isequally applicable to any of a number of types of vehicles such as anyof a number of different types of manned or unmanned land vehicles,aircraft, spacecraft, watercraft or the like.

According to example implementations, the display of repairanalytics—sometimes arranged in and thereby referred to as a dashboardof repair analytics—gives maintenance personnel immediate access toactual repair cost and removal rate data. The display provides keyrepair cost details for a desired date range, and perhaps also acrossoperators, systems/structures, suppliers and/or component parts. Thesecost details can be viewed by in-service time, by time period and/or bythe repair charge type. In addition, a repair cost and reliability coretable may provide a break down, by component part, and include theactual repair cost from appropriate source(s) of relevant datasets,where available.

FIG. 1 illustrates a system 100 for supporting maintenance of a fleet ofvehicles, according to example implementations of the presentdisclosure. The system includes any of a number of different subsystems(each an individual system) for performing one or more functions oroperations. As shown, in some examples, the system includes one or moreof each of a source 102 of one or more datasets, a user interface (UI)module 104 configured to generate a graphical user interface (GUI) 106,a query module 108, a repair analytics module 110, and an artifactgenerator 112. The subsystems may be co-located or directly coupled toone another, or in some examples, various ones of the subsystems maycommunicate with one another across one or more computer networks 114.Further, although shown as part of the system, it should be understoodthat any one or more of the source, UI module, GUI, query module, repairanalytics module or artifact generator may function or operate as aseparate system without regard to any of the other subsystems. It shouldalso be understood that the system may include one or more additional oralternative subsystems than those shown in FIG. 1.

As described herein, a source 102 is a source of one or more datasetsfor the fleet of vehicles. An example of a suitable source is acomputer-based information system, although other sources are alsocontemplated. In some examples, the source includes storage with one ormore datasets retained therein. This storage may be located at a singlesource or distributed across multiple sources. Examples of suitabletypes of storage include file storage, database storage, cloud storageor the like.

According to example implementations, the UI module 104 is configured togenerate the GUI 106 to enable a user to request and receive repairanalytics for a fleet of vehicles (e.g., aircraft). The system 100 mayalso include a sub-system 116 for in-service operation and maintenanceof the fleet of vehicles (shown as a fleet of aircraft 118). Thesub-system may also include a plurality of locations 120 a, 120 b, 120 cfor performing maintenance of the fleet of aircraft. For example, asshown, some aircraft of the fleet may be sent to one of the locationsfor maintenance, and other aircraft of the fleet may be sent to anotherof the locations for maintenance. In the context of a fleet of aircraftin particular, the sub-system may further include airports, air trafficcontrol towers, operation centers, technicians or facilities forin-service operation and maintenance of the fleet of aircraft (not shownin FIG. 1 for simplicity of illustration). The sub-system is generallyconfigured to perform maintenance on the fleet of vehicles according tothe repair analytics from the GUI, which may be improved relative tomaintenance performed without the repair analytics according to existingtechniques.

FIG. 2 illustrates more particularly illustrates the GUI 106 accordingto some example implementations. As shown, the GUI includes a firstframe 202 within which a collection of filters 204 are grouped to allowa user to filter repair analytics for the fleet of vehicles, and asecond frame 206 within which at least some of the repair analytics aredisplayed. As used herein, a frame (in some contexts referred to as afieldset) is a box or other visual container within which content and/orgraphical control elements can be grouped, and which may but need not beindividually scrollable. The first frame may include a number ofdifferent filters such as a date-range filter 204 a with one or moregraphical control elements 208 to enable the user to select a date rangefor the repair analytics. Examples of suitable graphical controlelements include date pickers, text boxes, buttons (e.g., radio buttons,check boxes, split buttons, cycle buttons), sliders, list boxes,spinners, drop-down lists or the like. Other suitable filters mayinclude an operator filter 204 b for operators of the vehicles, a systemfilter 204 c for systems or structures of the vehicles, a component-partfilter 204 d for component parts of the vehicles, a supplier filter 204e for suppliers of component parts, or the like.

The GUI 106 may implement dynamic filtering that reduces filter optionsbased on previously selected filters. In one example, a hierarchy fordynamic filters may be as follows: operator filters the availablesystems/structures→systems/structures filters the availablesuppliers→supplier filters the available component parts. When selectingvalues from the collection of filters with dynamic filtering, filterslower in the hierarchy may populate with available options. The firstframe 202 may also provide a quick view summary of the total operatorsand total component parts that are selected in the collection of filtersand have data associated with them in a selected date range.

Turning back to FIG. 1 and with further reference to FIG. 2, the UImodule 104 is configured to receive a user request for repair analyticsfor the fleet of vehicles via the GUI 106, including user selection ofthe date range via the date-range filter 204 a. The query module 108 isconfigured to interpret the user request to produce a query ofdataset(s) for the fleet of vehicles. In some examples, the dataset(s)include an in-service time (e.g., flight hours) for vehicles of thefleet of vehicles, and repair transactions including repair costs forthe vehicles. The query module is also configured to execute the queryof the dataset(s) for data of the vehicles of the fleet of vehicles. Insome examples, this data includes the in-service time and the repaircosts over the date range for the vehicles.

The repair analytics module 110 is configured to determine a movingaverage repair cost per unit of in-service time for a plurality of timeperiods within the date range from the in-service time and the repaircosts. The artifact generator 112 is then configured to generate amoving-average-repair-cost (MARC) chart 210 in the second frame 206 ofthe GUI 106. The MARC chart graphically illustrates the moving averagerepair cost per unit of in-service time for the plurality of timeperiods. The MARC chart may illustrate this data in any of a number ofdifferent manners such as by bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chartor slices in a pie chart.

In the context of a fleet of aircraft, the moving average repair costper unit of in-service time may involve flight hours such as a total sumof flight hours. A monthly moving average may be determined by takingthe sum of repair cost for the number of months and dividing by thetotal months. Repair cost per flight hour may be determined as follows:Total Part Repair Cost ($)/Total Flight Hours. A three-month movingaverage may be determined as follows: ((SUM(M))+SUM(M−1)+SUM(M−2))/3,where M represents the repair cost per flight hour for the currentmonth.

In some examples, the vehicles of the fleet of vehicles are operated byvehicle operators (e.g., airlines), and the collection of filters 204further include the operator filter 204 b with a second one or moregraphical control elements 212 to enable the user to select one or moreof the vehicle operators that operate a subset of the vehicles. In theseexamples, the dataset(s) identify the vehicles by vehicle operator ofthe vehicle operators. Also in these examples, the user request furtherincludes user selection of vehicle operator(s) via the operator filter.The query module 108 is configured to execute the query for the dataincluding the in-service time and the repair costs for only the subsetof the vehicles operated by the vehicle operator(s). The repairanalytics module 110 is configured to determine the moving averagerepair cost per unit of in-service time for the plurality of timeperiods within the date range from the in-service time and the repaircosts for only the subset of the vehicles.

In some examples, the vehicles of the fleet of vehicles includecomponent parts of systems or structures of the vehicles, and thecollection of filters 204 further include the system filter 204 c with asecond one or more graphical control elements 214 to enable the user toselect one or more of the systems or structures that include a subset ofthe component parts. In the context of aircraft, the systems orstructures may be organized by the Air Transport Association (ATA)numbering system for aircraft documentation, which is referenced in theATA 100 Chapter System. In these examples, the repair transactions inthe dataset(s) identify the repair costs by component part of thecomponent parts. Also in these examples, the user request furtherincludes user selection of system(s) or structure(s) via the systemfilter. The query module 108 is configured to execute the query for thedata including the in-service time and the repair costs for only thesubset of the component parts in the system(s) or structure(s). Therepair analytics module 110 is configured to determine the movingaverage repair cost per unit of in-service time for the plurality oftime periods within the date range from the in-service time and therepair costs for only the subset of the component parts.

In some examples, the vehicles of the fleet of vehicles includecomponent parts, and the collection of filters 204 further include thecomponent-part filter 204 d with a second one or more graphical controlelements 216 to enable the user to select one or more of the componentparts. In these examples, the repair transactions in the dataset(s)identify the repair costs by component part of the component parts. Alsoin these examples, the user request further includes user selection ofcomponent part(s) via the component-part filter. The query module 108 isconfigured to execute the query for the data including the in-servicetime and the repair costs for only the component part(s). The repairanalytics module 110 is configured determine the moving average repaircost per unit of in-service time for the plurality of time periodswithin the date range from the in-service time and the repair costs foronly the component part(s).

In some examples, the vehicles of the fleet of vehicles includecomponent parts supplied by component part suppliers, and the collectionof filters further include the supplier filter 204 e with a second oneor more graphical control elements 218 to enable the user to selectcomponent part supplier(s) that supply a subset of the component parts.In these examples, the repair transactions in the dataset(s) identifythe repair costs by component part of the component parts. Also in theseexamples, the user request further includes user selection of componentpart supplier(s) via the supplier filter. The query module 108 isconfigured to execute the query for the data including the in-servicetime and the repair costs for only the subset of the component partssupplied by the component part supplier(s). The repair analytics module110 is configured to determine the moving average repair cost per unitof in-service time for the plurality of time periods within the daterange from the in-service time and the repair costs for only the subsetof the component parts.

In some examples, the GUI 106 further includes a third frame 220 withinwhich at least some of the repair analytics are displayed, and therepair transactions in the dataset(s) identify the repair costs bycharge type of a plurality of charge types for the repair costs. Inthese examples, the repair analytics module 110 is further configured todetermine a repair cost and percentage of number of repair transactionsor total repair cost over the date range for each of the plurality ofcharge types from the repair costs for the vehicles. The artifactgenerator 112 is configured to generate a charge-type table 222 in thethird frame of the GUI. This t charge-type able identifies the pluralityof charge types, and the repair cost and percentage of number of repairtransactions or total repair cost for each of the plurality of chargetypes. An unassigned charge type may be included in or alongside thetable to provide the count and cost of the total repair transactionsthat are currently unassigned responsibility or NULL in a repair chargetype description. It may also include any repair that shows NULL in anoperator indicator.

In some examples, the vehicles of the fleet of vehicles includecomponent parts of systems or structures of the vehicles, and the repairtransactions in the dataset(s) identify the repair costs by componentpart of the component parts. In these examples, the first frame 202 andthe second frame 206 are on a landing page 224 of the GUI 106 that alsoincludes a further graphical control element 226 that when userselected, causes display of a second page 228 of the GUI within whichfurther repair analytics are displayed. Also in these examples, the UImodule 104 is further configured to receive user selection of thefurther graphical control element. The repair analytics module 110 isconfigured to determine a total repair cost per unit of in-service timeover the date range for each of a select one or more of the systems orstructures that include a subset of the component parts. The artifactgenerator 112 is configured to generate a system-structure chart 230 onthe second page of the GUI. This system-structure chart graphicallyillustrates numerical proportions of the total repair cost per unit ofin-service time for the select system(s) or structure(s).

In the context of a fleet of aircraft, this system-structure chart 230may summarize the total repair cost by flight hour for selected ATA(s).It may include cross filtering capability to allow for quick drill downsin a table on the second page 228 (described below as component-parttable 236) to component part details that are included in the selectedATA(s). There may also be the ability to hover over any part of thechart to view the data associated with the ATA. Repair cost by flighthour may be determined as follows: Sum of Total Component Part RepairCost/Maximum Flight Hours. Here, the Sum of Total Component Part RepairCost represents the total repair cost of selected component parts, andthe Maximum Flight Hours represents the highest count of flight hoursfrom the selected component parts.

In some examples, the vehicles of the fleet of vehicles includecomponent parts supplied by component part suppliers, and the repairtransactions in the dataset(s) identify the repair costs by componentpart of the component parts. In these examples, the repair analyticsmodule 110 is configured to determine a total repair cost over the daterange for each of a select one or more of the component part suppliersthat supply a subset of the component parts. The artifact generator 112is configured to generate a part-supplier chart 232 on the second page228 of the GUI 106. This part-supplier chart graphically illustratesnumerical proportions of the total repair cost for the select componentpart supplier(s).

For a fleet of aircraft, the part-supplier chart 232 may summarize thetotal repair cost for selected supplier(s). This part-supplier chart mayalso include cross filtering capability to allow for quick dill downs inthe table on the second page 228 to the part number details from theselected supplier(s). There may also the ability to hover over anycomponent part of the chart to view the data associated with thesupplier.

In some examples in which the repair transactions in the one or moredatasets identify the repair costs by charge type of a plurality ofcharge types for the repair costs, the repair analytics module 110 isconfigured to determine a percentage of number of repair transactions ortotal repair cost over the date range for each of the plurality ofcharge types from the repair costs for the vehicles. In these examples,the artifact generator 112 is configured to generate a charge-type chart234 on the second page 228 of the GUI 106. This charge-type chartgraphically illustrates numerical proportions of the percentage ofnumber of repair transactions or total repair cost for the plurality ofcharge types.

For a fleet of aircraft, the charge-type chart 234 may provide abreakdown by percentage for all of the included repair charge types.There may also be the ability to hover over any component part of thechart to view the data associated with the repair charge type category.The repair cost by charge type may be the total part repair cost for asingle charge type. Repair percentage by charge type may be this totalpart repair cost divided by the total part repair cost.

In some examples, the vehicles of the fleet of vehicles includecomponent parts, and the repair transactions in the one or more datasetsidentify the repair costs by component part of the component parts. Inthese examples, the repair analytics module 110 is configured todetermine for each component part of at least a subset of componentparts, a repair cost per unit of in-service time over the date rangefrom the in-service time and the repair costs. The artifact generator112 is configured to generate a component-part table 236 on the secondpage 228 of the GUI 106. This component-part table identifies the subsetof the component parts and at least the repair cost per unit ofin-service time over the date range for each component part of thesubset of the component parts.

The component-part table 236 may include key part cost, returns bycharge type and removal rates displayed at the part number level for theuser selected date range in the dashboard filters. The formulas thatinclude flight hour totals may use the true part flight hours based onrelevant data (e.g., from service bulletin incorporation data). Eachcalculation may be completed at a component part level. A number ofcolumns in the table may provide component part name and number, and inthe context of aircraft, ATA chapter, supplier and quantity per aircraft(QPA). Other columns in the table include repair cost per flight hour,repair cost per month, total flight hours, mean time between unscheduledremovals (MTBUR), mean time between faults (MTBF), mean time betweenremovals (MTBR), and the like.

To further illustrate the example implementations of the presentdisclosure, FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate a landing page 324 and secondpage 328 that may correspond to respectively the landing page 224 andsecond page 228 in some examples.

As shown, the landing page 324 includes a first frame 302 (first frame202) within which a collection of filters are grouped to allow a user tofilter repair analytics for the fleet of aircraft, and a second frame306 (second frame 206) within which at least some of the repairanalytics are displayed. The collection of filters in the first frameinclude a date-range filter 304 a (date-range filter 204 a) with datepickers 308 (graphical control elements 208) to enable the user toselect a date range for the repair analytics. An airline filter 304 b(operator filter 204 b) includes check boxes 312 (graphical controlelements 212) for selection of airlines. An ATA filter 304 c (systemfilter 204 c) includes check boxes 314 (graphical control elements 214)for selection of ATA chapters in which systems or structures of theaircraft are organized. A part number filter 304 d (component-partfilter 204 d) includes check boxes 316 (graphical control elements 216)for selection of component parts of the aircraft. A supplier filter 304e (supplier filter 204 e) includes check boxes 318 (graphical controlelements 218) for selection of suppliers of component parts. These maybe implemented in a hierarchy for dynamic filters such as follows:airline filters the available ATAs→ATA filters the availablesuppliers→supplier filters the available component parts. The firstframe also includes filters for selection of model and series ofaircraft, and length of a moving monthly average (MMA).

The second frame 306 of the landing page 324 includes a line chart 310(MARC chart 210) that graphically illustrates a three month movingaverage repair cost per flight hour (unit of in-service time) for aplurality of time periods within a desired date range selected in thedate-range filter 304 a, further limited by any specific airlines, ATAs,component parts and suppliers selected in the respective filters 304b-304 e in the first frame 302. As also shown, the landing page includesa third frame 320 (third frame 220) within which at least some of therepair analytics are displayed. This includes a table 322 (charge-typetable 222) that identifies the plurality of charge types, and the repaircost and percentage of number of repair transactions or total repaircost for each of the plurality of charge types, again limited orotherwise filtered by the respective filters 304 a-304 e in the firstframe. The landing page also includes a “view additional details” button326 (further graphical control element 226) that when user selected,causes display of the second page 328 of the GUI within which furtherrepair analytics are displayed. Even further, the landing page includescost summary boxes 340, 342 and 344 that display respectively repaircost per flight hour, repair cost per month, and total repair cost.

As shown in FIG. 3B, the second page 328 includes a pie chart 330(system-structure chart 230) that graphically illustrates numericalproportions of the total repair cost per flight hour for select ATAchapters (or even all ATA chapters), and a second pie chart 332 thatgraphically illustrates numerical proportions of the total repair costfor select component part suppliers (or even all suppliers). The secondpage includes a bar chart 334 (charge-type chart 234) that graphicallyillustrates numerical proportions of the percentage of number of repairtransactions for a plurality of charge types. The second page alsoincludes a table 336 (component-part table 236) that identifies at leasta subset of component parts and at least the repair cost per flight hourover the desired date range for each component part of the subset of thecomponent parts.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating various steps in a method 400 ofsupporting maintenance of a fleet of vehicles, according to exampleimplementations of the present disclosure. As shown at block 402, themethod includes executing a computer-readable program code viaprocessing circuitry to generate a graphical user interface (GUI) 106 toenable a user to request and receive repair analytics for a fleet ofvehicles. See, for example, FIG. 5, processing circuitry 502 and memory504. The GUI includes a first frame 202 within which a collection offilters 204 are grouped, and the collection of filters include adate-range filter 204 a with one or more graphical control elements 208to enable the user to select a date range for the repair analytics. TheGUI also includes a second frame 206 within which at least some of therepair analytics are displayed.

The method 400 includes receiving a user request for repair analyticsfor the fleet of vehicles via the GUI 106, including user selection ofthe date range via the date-range filter 204 a, as shown at block 404.The method includes interpreting the user request to produce a query ofone or more datasets for the fleet of vehicles, as shown at block 406.The method includes executing the query of the one or more datasets fordata of the vehicles of the fleet of vehicles, as shown at block 408.The dataset(s) include an in-service time for vehicles of the fleet ofvehicles, and repair transactions including repair costs for thevehicles; and the data includes the in-service time and the repair costsover the date range for the vehicles.

The method 400 includes determining a moving average repair cost perunit of in-service time for a plurality of time periods within the daterange from the in-service time and the repair costs, as shown at block410. And the method includes generating a MARC chart 210 in the secondframe 206 of the GUI 106, as shown at block 412. In this regard, thechart graphically illustrates the moving average repair cost per unit ofin-service time for the plurality of time periods.

There are many advantages of example implementations of the presentdisclosure. Example implementations may support fleet materials servicesin which users may have the ability to aggregate component part demandon an individual part level by leveraging the collection of filters 204of the GUI 106. This may improve resource utilization and optimizationof parts inventory quantities to reduce overall costs for componentservices programs.

Example implementations may support fleet engineering services in whichusers may have the ability to monitor historical component part repairtrends and identify root cause and corrective action candidates toenable cost recovery initiatives. This may reduce component partmaintenance costs to component services programs by identifying a partyresponsible for mitigation costs. Component services may also be able topredict component part shortages and allocate additional resources toproactively prevent service interruptions.

Example implementations may support supplier management in which usersmay have the ability to aggregate component part repair data to improvesupplier management purchase power through economies of scale andevaluate maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) offers likelihood ofmeeting long-range business targets. This may reduce repair and overhaulcosts and improve the ability to confirm that financial targets will bemet.

Fleet materials services/supplier management may benefit from exampleimplementations. Users may have the ability to leverage inventoryforecasting for individual operators to predict probable pool shortagesand seek warranty remedies. By obtaining warranty remedies forindividual operators before the fleet pool is effected, componentservices programs may prevent shortages and eliminate or reduce customerimpacts.

Supplier management may benefit with users being notified throughautomated alerting when specific remedies are available to obtainfree-of-charge support from an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) orsupplier. This may prevent overbuying when an OEM or supplier isresponsible for a component part shortage. Reacting before the pool isdepleted may allow component services to prevent service interruptions.

Supplier management/finance may benefit with users having the ability toview the moving average repair cost per unit of in-service time for thefleet or individual operators to track profitability. A user may be ableto filter by vehicle model, supplier and component part to compare withforecasted cost. Supplier management may gain new capability to metricsupplier performance on a cost basis. Finance may be able to accuratelypredict profit performance and identify cost improvement opportunities.

Example implementations may further benefit business development inwhich users may have the ability to generate component service programproposals by leveraging the GUI 106 to automate the repair and overhaulcosts forecasts calculation process. The time it takes to generateproposals may be reduced from multiple days to minutes and require lessheadcount. The quality of cost calculations may increase by removingmanual errors generated through previous.

According to example implementations of the present disclosure, thesystem 100 and its subsystems including the source 102, UI module 104,query module 108, repair analytics module 110 and an artifact generator112 may be implemented by various means. Means for implementing thesystem and its subsystems may include hardware, alone or under directionof one or more computer programs from a computer-readable storagemedium. In some examples, one or more apparatuses may be configured tofunction as or otherwise implement the system and its subsystems shownand described herein. In examples involving more than one apparatus, therespective apparatuses may be connected to or otherwise in communicationwith one another in a number of different manners, such as directly orindirectly via a wired or wireless network or the like.

FIG. 5 illustrates an apparatus 500 according to some exampleimplementations of the present disclosure. Generally, an apparatus ofexemplary implementations of the present disclosure may comprise,include or be embodied in one or more fixed or portable electronicdevices. Examples of suitable electronic devices include a smartphone,tablet computer, laptop computer, desktop computer, workstationcomputer, server computer or the like. The apparatus may include one ormore of each of a number of components such as, for example, processingcircuitry 502 (e.g., processor unit) connected to a memory 504 (e.g.,storage device).

The processing circuitry 502 may be composed of one or more processorsalone or in combination with one or more memories. The processingcircuitry is generally any piece of computer hardware that is capable ofprocessing information such as, for example, data, computer programsand/or other suitable electronic information. The processing circuitryis composed of a collection of electronic circuits some of which may bepackaged as an integrated circuit or multiple interconnected integratedcircuits (an integrated circuit at times more commonly referred to as a“chip”). The processing circuitry may be configured to execute computerprograms, which may be stored onboard the processing circuitry orotherwise stored in the memory 504 (of the same or another apparatus).

The processing circuitry 502 may be a number of processors, a multi-coreprocessor or some other type of processor, depending on the particularimplementation. Further, the processing circuitry may be implementedusing a number of heterogeneous processor systems in which a mainprocessor is present with one or more secondary processors on a singlechip. As another illustrative example, the processing circuitry may be asymmetric multi-processor system containing multiple processors of thesame type. In yet another example, the processing circuitry may beembodied as or otherwise include one or more ASICs, FPGAs or the like.Thus, although the processing circuitry may be capable of executing acomputer program to perform one or more functions, the processingcircuitry of various examples may be capable of performing one or morefunctions without the aid of a computer program. In either instance, theprocessing circuitry may be appropriately programmed to performfunctions or operations according to example implementations of thepresent disclosure.

The memory 504 is generally any piece of computer hardware that iscapable of storing information such as, for example, data, computerprograms (e.g., computer-readable program code 506) and/or othersuitable information either on a temporary basis and/or a permanentbasis. The memory may include volatile and/or non-volatile memory, andmay be fixed or removable. Examples of suitable memory include randomaccess memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), a hard drive, a flashmemory, a thumb drive, a removable computer diskette, an optical disk, amagnetic tape or some combination of the above. Optical disks mayinclude compact disk-read only memory (CD-ROM), compact disk-read/write(CD-R/W), DVD or the like. In various instances, the memory may bereferred to as a computer-readable storage medium. The computer-readablestorage medium is a non-transitory device capable of storinginformation, and is distinguishable from computer-readable transmissionmedia such as electronic transitory signals capable of carryinginformation from one location to another. Computer-readable medium asdescribed herein may generally refer to a computer-readable storagemedium or computer-readable transmission medium.

In addition to the memory 504, the processing circuitry 502 may also beconnected to one or more interfaces for displaying, transmitting and/orreceiving information. The interfaces may include a communicationsinterface 508 (e.g., communications unit) and/or one or more userinterfaces. The communications interface may be configured to transmitand/or receive information, such as to and/or from other apparatus(es),network(s) or the like. The communications interface may be configuredto transmit and/or receive information by physical (wired) and/orwireless communications links. Examples of suitable communicationinterfaces include a network interface controller (NIC), wireless NIC(WNIC) or the like.

The user interfaces may include a display 510 and/or one or more userinput interfaces 512 (e.g., input/output unit). The display may beconfigured to present or otherwise display information to a user,suitable examples of which include a liquid crystal display (LCD),light-emitting diode display (LED), plasma display panel (PDP) or thelike. The user input interfaces may be wired or wireless, and may beconfigured to receive information from a user into the apparatus, suchas for processing, storage and/or display. Suitable examples of userinput interfaces include a microphone, image or video capture device,keyboard or keypad, joystick, touch-sensitive surface (separate from orintegrated into a touchscreen), biometric sensor or the like. The userinterfaces may further include one or more interfaces for communicatingwith peripherals such as printers, scanners or the like.

As indicated above, program code instructions may be stored in memory,and executed by processing circuitry that is thereby programmed, toimplement functions of the systems, subsystems, tools and theirrespective elements described herein. As will be appreciated, anysuitable program code instructions may be loaded onto a computer orother programmable apparatus from a computer-readable storage medium toproduce a particular machine, such that the particular machine becomes ameans for implementing the functions specified herein. These programcode instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable storagemedium that can direct a computer, a processing circuitry or otherprogrammable apparatus to function in a particular manner to therebygenerate a particular machine or particular article of manufacture. Theinstructions stored in the computer-readable storage medium may producean article of manufacture, where the article of manufacture becomes ameans for implementing functions described herein. The program codeinstructions may be retrieved from a computer-readable storage mediumand loaded into a computer, processing circuitry or other programmableapparatus to configure the computer, processing circuitry or otherprogrammable apparatus to execute operations to be performed on or bythe computer, processing circuitry or other programmable apparatus.

Retrieval, loading and execution of the program code instructions may beperformed sequentially such that one instruction is retrieved, loadedand executed at a time. In some example implementations, retrieval,loading and/or execution may be performed in parallel such that multipleinstructions are retrieved, loaded, and/or executed together. Executionof the program code instructions may produce a computer-implementedprocess such that the instructions executed by the computer, processingcircuitry or other programmable apparatus provide operations forimplementing functions described herein.

Execution of instructions by a processing circuitry, or storage ofinstructions in a computer-readable storage medium, supportscombinations of operations for performing the specified functions. Inthis manner, an apparatus 500 may include a processing circuitry 502 anda computer-readable storage medium or memory 504 coupled to theprocessing circuitry, where the processing circuitry is configured toexecute computer-readable program code 506 stored in the memory. It willalso be understood that one or more functions, and combinations offunctions, may be implemented by special purpose hardware-based computersystems and/or processing circuitry s which perform the specifiedfunctions, or combinations of special purpose hardware and program codeinstructions.

Many modifications and other implementations of the disclosure set forthherein will come to mind to one skilled in the art to which thedisclosure pertains having the benefit of the teachings presented in theforegoing description and the associated drawings. Therefore, it is tobe understood that the disclosure is not to be limited to the specificimplementations disclosed and that modifications and otherimplementations are intended to be included within the scope of theappended claims. Moreover, although the foregoing description and theassociated drawings describe example implementations in the context ofcertain example combinations of elements and/or functions, it should beappreciated that different combinations of elements and/or functions maybe provided by alternative implementations without departing from thescope of the appended claims. In this regard, for example, differentcombinations of elements and/or functions than those explicitlydescribed above are also contemplated as may be set forth in some of theappended claims. Although specific terms are employed herein, they areused in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes oflimitation.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus for supporting maintenance of afleet of vehicles, the apparatus comprising: a non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium storing computer-readable program code;and a processing circuitry configured to access the non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium, and execute the computer-readableprogram code to cause the apparatus to at least: generate a graphicaluser interface (GUI) to enable a user to request and receive repairanalytics for a fleet of vehicles, the GUI including a first framewithin which a collection of filters are grouped, the collection offilters including a date-range filter with one or more graphical controlelements to enable the user to select a date range for the repairanalytics, and the GUI including a second frame within which at leastsome of the repair analytics are displayed; receive a user request forrepair analytics for the fleet of vehicles via the GUI, including userselection of the date range via the date-range filter; interpret theuser request to produce a query of one or more datasets for the fleet ofvehicles, the one or more datasets including an in-service time forvehicles of the fleet of vehicles, and repair transactions includingrepair costs for the vehicles; execute the query of the one or moredatasets for data of the vehicles of the fleet of vehicles, the dataincluding the in-service time and the repair costs over the date rangefor the vehicles; determine a moving average repair cost per unit ofin-service time for a plurality of time periods within the date rangefrom the in-service time and the repair costs; and generate amoving-average-repair-cost (MARC) chart in the second frame of the GUI,the MARC chart graphically illustrating the moving average repair costper unit of in-service time for the plurality of time periods whereinthe GUI further includes a third frame within which at least some of therepair analytics are displayed, and the repair transactions in the oneor more datasets identify the repair costs by charge type of a pluralityof charge types for the repair costs, and wherein the processingcircuitry is configured to execute the computer-readable program code tocause the apparatus to further at least: determine a repair cost andpercentage of number of repair transactions or total repair cost overthe date range for each of the plurality of charge types from the repaircosts for the vehicles; and generate a charge-type table in the thirdframe of the GUI, the charge-type table identifying the plurality ofcharge types, and the repair cost and percentage of number of repairtransactions or total repair cost for each of the plurality of chargetypes.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the vehicles of the fleet ofvehicles are operated by vehicle operators, the collection of filtersfurther include an operator filter with a second one or more graphicalcontrol elements to enable the user to select one or more of the vehicleoperators that operate a subset of the vehicles, and the one or moredatasets identify the vehicles by vehicle operator of the vehicleoperators, and wherein the apparatus being caused to receive the userrequest further includes being caused to receive user selection of theone or more of the vehicle operators via the operator filter, theapparatus being caused to execute the query includes being caused toexecute the query for the data including the in-service time and therepair costs for only the subset of the vehicles operated by the one ormore of the vehicle operators, and the apparatus being caused todetermine the moving average repair cost per unit of in-service timeincludes being caused to determine the moving average repair cost perunit of in-service time for the plurality of time periods within thedate range from the in-service time and the repair costs for only thesubset of the vehicles.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein thevehicles of the fleet of vehicles include component parts of systems orstructures of the vehicles, the collection of filters further include asystem filter with a second one or more graphical control elements toenable the user to select one or more of the systems or structures thatinclude a subset of the component parts, and the repair transactions inthe one or more datasets identify the repair costs by component part ofthe component parts, and wherein the apparatus being caused to receivethe user request further includes being caused to receive user selectionof the one or more of the systems or structures via the system filter,the apparatus being caused to execute the query includes being caused toexecute the query for the data including the in-service time and therepair costs for only the subset of the component parts in the one ormore of the systems or structures, and the apparatus being caused todetermine the moving average repair cost per unit of in-service timeincludes being caused to determine the moving average repair cost perunit of in-service time for the plurality of time periods within thedate range from the in-service time and the repair costs for only thesubset of the component parts.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein thevehicles of the fleet of vehicles include component parts, thecollection of filters further include a component-part filter with asecond one or more graphical control elements to enable the user toselect one or more of the component parts, and the repair transactionsin the one or more datasets identify the repair costs by component partof the component parts, and wherein the apparatus being caused toreceive the user request further includes being caused to receive userselection of the one or more of the component parts via thecomponent-part filter, the apparatus being caused to execute the queryincludes being caused to execute the query for the data including thein-service time and the repair costs for only the one or more of thecomponent parts, and the apparatus being caused to determine the movingaverage repair cost per unit of in-service time includes being caused todetermine the moving average repair cost per unit of in-service time forthe plurality of time periods within the date range from the in-servicetime and the repair costs for only the one or more of the componentparts.
 5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the vehicles of the fleet ofvehicles include component parts supplied by component part suppliers,the collection of filters further include a supplier filter with asecond one or more graphical control elements to enable the user toselect one or more of the component part suppliers that supply a subsetof the component parts, and the repair transactions in the one or moredatasets identify the repair costs by component part of the componentparts, and wherein the apparatus being caused to receive the userrequest further includes being caused to receive user selection of theone or more of the component part suppliers via the supplier filter, theapparatus being caused to execute the query includes being caused toexecute the query for the data including the in-service time and therepair costs for only the subset of the component parts supplied by theone or more of the component part suppliers, and the apparatus beingcaused to determine the moving average repair cost per unit ofin-service time includes being caused to determine the moving averagerepair cost per unit of in-service time for the plurality of timeperiods within the date range from the in-service time and the repaircosts for only the subset of the component parts.
 6. The apparatus ofclaim 1, wherein the vehicles of the fleet of vehicles include componentparts of systems or structures of the vehicles, and the repairtransactions in the one or more datasets identify the repair costs bycomponent part of the component parts, wherein the first frame and thesecond frame are on a landing page of the GUI that also includes afurther graphical control element that when user selected, causesdisplay of a second page of the GUI within which further repairanalytics are displayed, and the processing circuitry is configured toexecute the computer-readable program code to cause the apparatus tofurther at least: receive user selection of the further graphicalcontrol element; determine a total repair cost per unit of in-servicetime over the date range for each of a select one or more of the systemsor structures that include a subset of the component parts; and generatea system-structure chart on the second page of the GUI, thesystem-structure chart graphically illustrating numerical proportions ofthe total repair cost per unit of in-service time for the select one ormore of the systems or structures.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1, whereinthe vehicles of the fleet of vehicles include component parts suppliedby component part suppliers, and the repair transactions in the one ormore datasets identify the repair costs by component part of thecomponent parts, wherein the first frame and the second frame are on alanding page of the GUI that also includes a further graphical controlelement that when user selected, causes display of a second page of theGUI within which further repair analytics are displayed, and theprocessing circuitry is configured to execute the computer-readableprogram code to cause the apparatus to further at least: receive userselection of the further graphical control element; determine a totalrepair cost over the date range for each of a select one or more of thecomponent part suppliers that supply a subset of the component parts;and generate a part-supplier chart on the second page of the GUI, thepart-supplier chart graphically illustrating numerical proportions ofthe total repair cost for the select one or more of the component partsuppliers.
 8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the repair transactionsin the one or more datasets identify the repair costs by charge type ofa plurality of charge types for the repair costs, wherein the firstframe and the second frame are on a landing page of the GUI that alsoincludes a further graphical control element that when user selected,causes display of a second page of the GUI within which further repairanalytics are displayed, and the processing circuitry is configured toexecute the computer-readable program code to cause the apparatus tofurther at least: receive user selection of the further graphicalcontrol element; determine a percentage of number of repair transactionsor total repair cost over the date range for each of the plurality ofcharge types from the repair costs for the vehicles; and generate acharge-type chart on the second page of the GUI, the charge-type chartgraphically illustrating numerical proportions of the percentage ofnumber of repair transactions or total repair cost for the plurality ofcharge types.
 9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the vehicles of thefleet of vehicles include component parts, and the repair transactionsin the one or more datasets identify the repair costs by component partof the component parts, wherein the first frame and the second frame areon a landing page of the GUI that also includes a further graphicalcontrol element that when user selected, causes display of a second pageof the GUI within which further repair analytics are displayed, and theprocessing circuitry is configured to execute the computer-readableprogram code to cause the apparatus to further at least: receive userselection of the further graphical control element; determine for eachcomponent part of at least a subset of component parts, a repair costper unit of in-service time over the date range from the in-service timeand the repair costs; and generate a component-part table on the secondpage of the GUI, the component-part table identifying the subset of thecomponent parts and at least the repair cost per unit of in-service timeover the date range for each component part of the subset of thecomponent parts.
 10. A method of supporting maintenance of a fleet ofvehicles, the method comprising: executing a computer-readable programcode via a processing circuitry to generate a graphical user interface(GUI) to enable a user to request and receive repair analytics for afleet of vehicles, the GUI including a first frame within which acollection of filters are grouped, the collection of filters including adate-range filter with one or more graphical control elements to enablethe user to select a date range for the repair analytics, and the GUIincluding a second frame within which at least some of the repairanalytics are displayed; receiving a user request for repair analyticsfor the fleet of vehicles via the GUI, including user selection of thedate range via the date-range filter; interpreting the user request toproduce a query of one or more datasets for the fleet of vehicles, theone or more datasets including an in-service time for vehicles of thefleet of vehicles, and repair transactions including repair costs forthe vehicles; executing the query of the one or more datasets for dataof the vehicles of the fleet of vehicles, the data including thein-service time and the repair costs over the date range for thevehicles; determining a moving average repair cost per unit ofin-service time for a plurality of time periods within the date rangefrom the in-service time and the repair costs; and generating amoving-average-repair-cost (MARC) chart in the second frame of the GUI,the MARC chart graphically illustrating the moving average repair costper unit of in-service time for the plurality of time periods whereinthe GUI further includes a third frame within which at least some of therepair analytics are displayed, and the repair transactions in the oneor more datasets identify the repair costs by charge type of a pluralityof charge types for the repair costs, and wherein the method furthercomprises: determining a repair cost and percentage of number of repairtransactions or total repair cost over the date range for each of theplurality of charge types from the repair costs for the vehicles; andgenerating a charge-type table in the third frame of the GUI, thecharge-type table identifying the plurality of charge types, and therepair cost and percentage of number of repair transactions or totalrepair cost for each of the plurality of charge types.
 11. The method ofclaim 10, wherein the vehicles of the fleet of vehicles are operated byvehicle operators, the collection of filters further include an operatorfilter with a second one or more graphical control elements to enablethe user to select one or more of the vehicle operators that operate asubset of the vehicles, and the one or more datasets identify thevehicles by vehicle operator of the vehicle operators, and whereinreceiving the user request further includes receiving user selection ofthe one or more of the vehicle operators via the operator filter,executing the query includes executing the query for the data includingthe in-service time and the repair costs for only the subset of thevehicles operated by the one or more of the vehicle operators, anddetermining the moving average repair cost per unit of in-service timeincludes determining the moving average repair cost per unit ofin-service time for the plurality of time periods within the date rangefrom the in-service time and the repair costs for only the subset of thevehicles.
 12. The method of claim 10, wherein the vehicles of the fleetof vehicles include component parts of systems or structures of thevehicles, the collection of filters further include a system filter witha second one or more graphical control elements to enable the user toselect one or more of the systems or structures that include a subset ofthe component parts, and the repair transactions in the one or moredatasets identify the repair costs by component part of the componentparts, and wherein receiving the user request further includes receivinguser selection of the one or more of the systems or structures via thesystem filter, executing the query includes executing the query for thedata including the in-service time and the repair costs for only thesubset of the component parts in the one or more of the systems orstructures, and determining the moving average repair cost per unit ofin-service time includes determining the moving average repair cost perunit of in-service time for the plurality of time periods within thedate range from the in-service time and the repair costs for only thesubset of the component parts.
 13. The method of claim 10, wherein thevehicles of the fleet of vehicles include component parts, thecollection of filters further include a component-part filter with asecond one or more graphical control elements to enable the user toselect one or more of the component parts, and the repair transactionsin the one or more datasets identify the repair costs by component partof the component parts, and wherein receiving the user request furtherincludes receiving user selection of the one or more of the componentparts via the component-part filter, executing the query includesexecuting the query for the data including the in-service time and therepair costs for only the one or more of the component parts, anddetermining the moving average repair cost per unit of in-service timeincludes determining the moving average repair cost per unit ofin-service time for the plurality of time periods within the date rangefrom the in-service time and the repair costs for only the one or moreof the component parts.
 14. The method of claim 10, wherein the vehiclesof the fleet of vehicles include component parts supplied by componentpart suppliers, the collection of filters further include a supplierfilter with a second one or more graphical control elements to enablethe user to select one or more of the component part suppliers thatsupply a subset of the component parts, and the repair transactions inthe one or more datasets identify the repair costs by component part ofthe component parts, and wherein receiving the user request furtherincludes receiving user selection of the one or more of the componentpart suppliers via the supplier filter, executing the query includesexecuting the query for the data including the in-service time and therepair costs for only the subset of the component parts supplied by theone or more of the component part suppliers, and determining the movingaverage repair cost per unit of in-service time includes determining themoving average repair cost per unit of in-service time for the pluralityof time periods within the date range from the in-service time and therepair costs for only the subset of the component parts.
 15. The methodof claim 10, wherein the vehicles of the fleet of vehicles includecomponent parts of systems or structures of the vehicles, and the repairtransactions in the one or more datasets identify the repair costs bycomponent part of the component parts, wherein the first frame and thesecond frame are on a landing page of the GUI that also includes afurther graphical control element that when user selected, causesdisplay of a second page of the GUI within which further repairanalytics are displayed, and the method further comprises: receivinguser selection of the further graphical control element; determining atotal repair cost per unit of in-service time over the date range foreach of a select one or more of the systems or structures that include asubset of the component parts; and generating a system-structure charton the second page of the GUI, the system-structure chart graphicallyillustrating numerical proportions of the total repair cost per unit ofin-service time for the select one or more of the systems or structures.16. The method of claim 10, wherein the vehicles of the fleet ofvehicles include component parts supplied by component part suppliers,and the repair transactions in the one or more datasets identify therepair costs by component part of the component parts, wherein the firstframe and the second frame are on a landing page of the GUI that alsoincludes a further graphical control element that when user selected,causes display of a second page of the GUI within which further repairanalytics are displayed, and the method further comprises: receivinguser selection of the further graphical control element; determining atotal repair cost over the date range for each of a select one or moreof the component part suppliers that supply a subset of the componentparts; and generating a part-supplier chart on the second page of theGUI, the part-supplier chart graphically illustrating numericalproportions of the total repair cost for the select one or more of thecomponent part suppliers.
 17. The method of claim 10, wherein the repairtransactions in the one or more datasets identify the repair costs bycharge type of a plurality of charge types for the repair costs, whereinthe first frame and the second frame are on a landing page of the GUIthat also includes a further graphical control element that when userselected, causes display of a second page of the GUI within whichfurther repair analytics are displayed, and the method furthercomprises: receiving user selection of the further graphical controlelement; determining a percentage of number of repair transactions ortotal repair cost over the date range for each of the plurality ofcharge types from the repair costs for the vehicles; and generating acharge-type chart on the second page of the GUI, the charge-type chartgraphically illustrating numerical proportions of the percentage ofnumber of repair transactions or total repair cost for the plurality ofcharge types.
 18. The method of claim 10, wherein the vehicles of thefleet of vehicles include component parts, and the repair transactionsin the one or more datasets identify the repair costs by component partof the component parts, wherein the first frame and the second frame areon a landing page of the GUI that also includes a further graphicalcontrol element that when user selected, causes display of a second pageof the GUI within which further repair analytics are displayed, and themethod further comprises: receiving user selection of the furthergraphical control element; determining for each component part of atleast a subset of component parts, a repair cost per unit of in-servicetime over the date range from the in-service time and the repair costs;and generating a component-part table on the second page of the GUI, thecomponent-part table identifying the subset of the component parts andat least the repair cost per unit of in-service time over the date rangefor each component part of the subset of the component parts.
 19. Anon-transitory computer-readable storage medium for supportingmaintenance of a fleet of vehicles, the computer-readable storage mediumhaving computer-readable program code stored therein that in response toexecution by a processing circuitry, causes an apparatus to at least:generate a graphical user interface (GUI) to enable a user to requestand receive repair analytics for a fleet of vehicles, the GUI includinga first frame within which a collection of filters are grouped, thecollection of filters including a date-range filter with one or moregraphical control elements to enable the user to select a date range forthe repair analytics, and the GUI including a second frame within whichat least some of the repair analytics are displayed; receive a userrequest for repair analytics for the fleet of vehicles via the GUI,including user selection of the date range via the date-range filter;interpret the user request to produce a query of one or more datasetsfor the fleet of vehicles, the one or more datasets including anin-service time for vehicles of the fleet of vehicles, and repairtransactions including repair costs for the vehicles; execute the queryof the one or more datasets for data of the vehicles of the fleet ofvehicles, the data including the in-service time and the repair costsover the date range for the vehicles; determine a moving average repaircost per unit of in-service time for a plurality of time periods withinthe date range from the in-service time and the repair costs; andgenerate a moving-average-repair-cost (MARC) chart in the second frameof the GUI, the MARC chart graphically illustrating the moving averagerepair cost per unit of in-service time for the plurality of timeperiods wherein the GUI further includes a third frame within which atleast some of the repair analytics are displayed, and the repairtransactions in the one or more datasets identify the repair costs bycharge type of a plurality of charge types for the repair costs, andwherein the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium has furthercomputer-readable program code stored therein that in response toexecution by the processing circuitry causes the apparatus to further atleast: determine a repair cost and percentage of number of repairtransactions or total repair cost over the date range for each of theplurality of charge types from the repair costs for the vehicles; andgenerate a charge-type table in the third frame of the GUI, thecharge-type table identifying the plurality of charge types, and therepair cost and percentage of number of repair transactions or totalrepair cost for each of the plurality of charge types.
 20. Thenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 19, wherein thevehicles of the fleet of vehicles are operated by vehicle operators, thecollection of filters further include an operator filter with a secondone or more graphical control elements to enable the user to select oneor more of the vehicle operators that operate a subset of the vehicles,and the one or more datasets identify the vehicles by vehicle operatorof the vehicle operators, and wherein the apparatus being caused toreceive the user request further includes being caused to receive userselection of the one or more of the vehicle operators via the operatorfilter, the apparatus being caused to execute the query includes beingcaused to execute the query for the data including the in-service timeand the repair costs for only the subset of the vehicles operated by theone or more of the vehicle operators, and the apparatus being caused todetermine the moving average repair cost per unit of in-service timeincludes being caused to determine the moving average repair cost perunit of in-service time for the plurality of time periods within thedate range from the in-service time and the repair costs for only thesubset of the vehicles.
 21. The non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium of claim 19, wherein the vehicles of the fleet of vehiclesinclude component parts of systems or structures of the vehicles, thecollection of filters further include a system filter with a second oneor more graphical control elements to enable the user to select one ormore of the systems or structures that include a subset of the componentparts, and the repair transactions in the one or more datasets identifythe repair costs by component part of the component parts, and whereinthe apparatus being caused to receive the user request further includesbeing caused to receive user selection of the one or more of the systemsor structures via the system filter, the apparatus being caused toexecute the query includes being caused to execute the query for thedata including the in-service time and the repair costs for only thesubset of the component parts in the one or more of the systems orstructures, and the apparatus being caused to determine the movingaverage repair cost per unit of in-service time includes being caused todetermine the moving average repair cost per unit of in-service time forthe plurality of time periods within the date range from the in-servicetime and the repair costs for only the subset of the component parts.22. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 19,wherein the vehicles of the fleet of vehicles include component parts,the collection of filters further include a component-part filter with asecond one or more graphical control elements to enable the user toselect one or more of the component parts, and the repair transactionsin the one or more datasets identify the repair costs by component partof the component parts, and wherein the apparatus being caused toreceive the user request further includes being caused to receive userselection of the one or more of the component parts via thecomponent-part filter, the apparatus being caused to execute the queryincludes being caused to execute the query for the data including thein-service time and the repair costs for only the one or more of thecomponent parts, and the apparatus being caused to determine the movingaverage repair cost per unit of in-service time includes being caused todetermine the moving average repair cost per unit of in-service time forthe plurality of time periods within the date range from the in-servicetime and the repair costs for only the one or more of the componentparts.
 23. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim19, wherein the vehicles of the fleet of vehicles include componentparts supplied by component part suppliers, the collection of filtersfurther include a supplier filter with a second one or more graphicalcontrol elements to enable the user to select one or more of thecomponent part suppliers that supply a subset of the component parts,and the repair transactions in the one or more datasets identify therepair costs by component part of the component parts, and wherein theapparatus being caused to receive the user request further includesbeing caused to receive user selection of the one or more of thecomponent part suppliers via the supplier filter, the apparatus beingcaused to execute the query includes being caused to execute the queryfor the data including the in-service time and the repair costs for onlythe subset of the component parts supplied by the one or more of thecomponent part suppliers, and the apparatus being caused to determinethe moving average repair cost per unit of in-service time includesbeing caused to determine the moving average repair cost per unit ofin-service time for the plurality of time periods within the date rangefrom the in-service time and the repair costs for only the subset of thecomponent parts.
 24. The non-transitory computer-readable storage mediumof claim 19, wherein the vehicles of the fleet of vehicles includecomponent parts of systems or structures of the vehicles, and the repairtransactions in the one or more datasets identify the repair costs bycomponent part of the component parts, wherein the first frame and thesecond frame are on a landing page of the GUI that also includes afurther graphical control element that when user selected, causesdisplay of a second page of the GUI within which further repairanalytics are displayed, and the non-transitory computer-readablestorage medium has further computer-readable program code stored thereinthat in response to execution by the processing circuitry causes theapparatus to further at least: receive user selection of the furthergraphical control element; determine a total repair cost per unit ofin-service time over the date range for each of a select one or more ofthe systems or structures that include a subset of the component parts;and generate a system-structure chart on the second page of the GUI, thesystem-structure chart graphically illustrating numerical proportions ofthe total repair cost per unit of in-service time for the select one ormore of the systems or structures.
 25. The non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium of claim 19, wherein the vehicles ofthe fleet of vehicles include component parts supplied by component partsuppliers, and the repair transactions in the one or more datasetsidentify the repair costs by component part of the component parts,wherein the first frame and the second frame are on a landing page ofthe GUI that also includes a further graphical control element that whenuser selected, causes display of a second page of the GUI within whichfurther repair analytics are displayed, and the non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium has further computer-readable programcode stored therein that in response to execution by the processingcircuitry causes the apparatus to further at least: receive userselection of the further graphical control element; determine a totalrepair cost over the date range for each of a select one or more of thecomponent part suppliers that supply a subset of the component parts;and generate a part-supplier chart on the second page of the GUI, thepart-supplier chart graphically illustrating numerical proportions ofthe total repair cost for the select one or more of the component partsuppliers.
 26. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium ofclaim 19, wherein the repair transactions in the one or more datasetsidentify the repair costs by charge type of a plurality of charge typesfor the repair costs, wherein the first frame and the second frame areon a landing page of the GUI that also includes a further graphicalcontrol element that when user selected, causes display of a second pageof the GUI within which further repair analytics are displayed, and thenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium has furthercomputer-readable program code stored therein that in response toexecution by the processing circuitry causes the apparatus to further atleast: receive user selection of the further graphical control element;determine a percentage of number of repair transactions or total repaircost over the date range for each of the plurality of charge types fromthe repair costs for the vehicles; and generate a charge-type chart onthe second page of the GUI, the charge-type chart graphicallyillustrating numerical proportions of the percentage of number of repairtransactions or total repair cost for the plurality of charge types. 27.The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 19, whereinthe vehicles of the fleet of vehicles include component parts, and therepair transactions in the one or more datasets identify the repaircosts by component part of the component parts, wherein the first frameand the second frame are on a landing page of the GUI that also includesa further graphical control element that when user selected, causesdisplay of a second page of the GUI within which further repairanalytics are displayed, and the non-transitory computer-readablestorage medium has further computer-readable program code stored thereinthat in response to execution by the processing circuitry causes theapparatus to further at least: receive user selection of the furthergraphical control element; determine for each component part of at leasta subset of component parts, a repair cost per unit of in-service timeover the date range from the in-service time and the repair costs; andgenerate a component-part table on the second page of the GUI, thecomponent-part table identifying the subset of the component parts andat least the repair cost per unit of in-service time over the date rangefor each component part of the subset of the component parts.